Leather Obscura

Unique, Handmade Creations. With a background in costume making and costume design, as well as various forms of art, I am currently focussing on making leather masks. There is something wonderfully sculptural about leather, something solid, and pleasingly tactile, all of which makes it a joy to work with. I hope people love wearing my masks as much as I love making them.

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Yet more duo-colour polarising filter experiments. Seems to do some cool things with metallic surfaces, like the faux gold on this mail I made once. It gives a wonderful antique look, and a kind of moody, creepy feel too! Atmospheric anyway. Camera filter made by @cokin.france Mask made by me, using @worblanz Worbla Black Art thermoplastic. #mask #goldmask #duotone #duocolor #duocolour #cokinfilter #cokinfilters #camerafilters #maskmaking #handmademask #thermoplastic #worblasblackart https://www.instagram.com/p/CH1rGsegB55/?igshid=1bwuqkpsmrdxk

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1st test of a camera slide rail I made for taking stereoscopic (3D) images. I'll be the first to say it's not especially precise! I did have to correct the levels a bit in Photoshop, but all in all I'm quite happy with it. I do need to find a way of stabilizing the rail though if I want to use it on a tripod, as it shows terribly, which rather defeats the point haha! For this test I took four images at about 5cm / 2" intervals, because I knew I'd be displaying it as a video like this. If I were going to display or view then using a stereoscopic viewer, or process it into a red and cyan anaglyph image, I would have just done two images, for the left and right eyes. The slider is quite long, so can be used for landscape stereoscopic images, where you want to space out the left and right eye positions unnaturally wide, so as to increase the 3D effect. Anyway, I'd like to try shooting a model with this at some point. #stereoscopic #3dpicture #diycameraslider #diycameragear #diyphotography #stereoscopicphotography #stereoscopic3d (at Whangaparaoa, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxyPjXEAIO8/?igshid=xvzr097z0ubx

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Some progress on my cyberpunk wrist keyboard wearable prop / accessory. Finished the lights to illuminate the hand etched Worbla transparent thermoplastic (which I did with an old soldering iron.) I'll be the first to admit my soldering is pretty bad, and the prototyping board cracked because I tried to cut it in the wrong place... But I'm still pretty pleased! Those surface mounted LEDs are tiny! They're only about 2mm long!! The blue things are resistors, which are only 6mm long, but seem gigantic in comparison haha! Thankfully those, at least, are through-hole rather than surface mounted. Anyway, I still have to work out how I'm going to mount the board to the prop. Probably hot glue, and then some sort of Warbla cover. #worblastranspaart #propmaking #cyberpunk #cyberpunkcostume #wristcomputer #cyberpunkcosplay #worbla #worblanz #costumeprops #costumemaking #cyberpunkgear https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw3iYT0AABG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=udtso0iyo57w

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Further progress on my cyberpunk mask. Quite pleased, except I seem to have accidentally channeled Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze haha! Oops! I need to make it a bit more cyberpunk, work out an outfit and some faux tech accessories to go with it, and then I can do a self portrait. I was inspired to do this, in part, by an excellent book called Sir Portrait, which is a collection of photograph of an English art curator (I think? I forget now, along with what his name is!) in the style of notable portraits throughout history. I'd love to do an extended project like that! I was also inspired by some amazing cyberpunk artwork I saw, and by the incredible work of (hang on while I go and check the username haha) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwYkRt4genJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1kz7eo0y5fniu

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New 'Cyberpunk' mask WIP If you saw the mask form I was making recently, this is the first mask I've started making on it! The transparent Worbla is a little bit different to work with from the other types I've used before, so it's not perfect... But still! I'm actually sparring it silver from the inside, so it will be like a glossy, silver candy haha! I'm tempted to try and put some lights in/on it, but I'm not sure about that yet. I had planned on having them shine through it, but now I've painted it... Well, well see. #worblastranspaart #cyberpunk #cyberpunkcostume #cyberpunkmask #maskmaking #worbla #worblanz https://www.instagram.com/p/BwYP7v-AzSQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ca4p9ofvgdeb

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Creepy mask sculp. I've been thinking about doing some sort of cyberpunk shoot, and thought I'd maybe make a Japanese inspired mask for it. Obviously my sculp didn't quite go that way, but I was thinking about those Oni masks and the samurai face armour. I decided not to use reference, so ended up with something slightly more Greek tragedy mask than Japanese demon mask... Or perhaps a combination of the two haha! Still, I quite like it. I need to smooth it, mould it, make a plaster positive, and then I'll be able to make the actual mask/s over that using Worbla thermoplastic. It was quite fun to photograph as well, so I might at some point do more sculptures for that purpose. #sculpture #sculpt #masksculpt #mask #gothic #macabre #creepy #creepymask #tradgedymask #oni #demon #darkart https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvp4AIjAh_R/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1c86ectq7ul4z

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Pinhole photography. Yes, the focus is a bit soft, but there's something quite atmospheric about that. To mount the pinhole 'lenses', I bought some cheap unbranded body caps online. Including the postage, I got 3 for about 1.5x the cost of official Canon ones (and I don't know what shipping of those would have been), and they came with lens back caps too. Bargain! I drilled holes in the centre of these body caps, about 3-4mm diameter, and rounded off the outside edge of the holes. For the actual pinholes, I've been using some aluminium baking foil. I've always read about people using thicker aluminium, like the foil seal in something like a drinking chocolate / instant coffee container, or even the side of a 'soda' can. However I've found it can be quite difficult to make a small enough and smooth enough hole in these thicker materials. My understanding is that the smaller and smoother the hole you can make, the sharper the focus. By using something very thin it seems easier to make the hole. My method for piercing the all important pinhole is to first tape a small square, about 10-15mm, to the inside of the drilled body cap. I black out the foil on the inside with permanent marker. Then I use something flat to support the foil from the inside and then from the front of the body cap, through the hole I drilled, I carefully push the tip of a needle through the foil, using the finest needle I can find. Done! It sounds a bit convoluted, but it's actually quite easy! You may just have to try a couple of times till you get a pinhole you're happy with. As far as using the 'lens' goes, that will take a bit of trial and error as well. You'll need to shoot in manual mode, as the light metre tends not to get it quite right. Preferably use a low ISO, to avoid noise. Also the aperture, or hole of the pinhole is tiny, so the exposure times can be quite long. But in bright sun light, such as the pictures I took here, the exposure might only be a second or so. #pinholephotography #experimentalphotography #pinholelens (at Whangaparaoa, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvPzEVSgf4J/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1saraw259urwh

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A series of still lifes, or variations thereof, done with natural light, using a couple of different lenses. I've been trying to keep busy, because my anxiety has been a bit elevated lately, and doing little projects for myself helps. When I was young I dismissed still life, like many things, as pointless nonsense! But I've come to quite like them. They seem to have the ability to be tranquil, or have an uneasy tension; a lightness, or a brooding, moody quality. And I like the symbolism one often sees in then, leading the viewer to work out the 'story' or meaning in these frozen tableauxs of objects. And as an artist, even for the photographer, they present a challenge! It can be tricky to create a good composition, that doesn't feel too contrived, and achieve a visual balance and coherence to the image, filling the space without it feeling cluttered. It's a really good exercise! Lenses used were (from memory) Canon 50mm Prime (approx. 80mm equivalent on crop sensor), Canon 18-50mm, vintage Kodak lense with custom adapter tube, and the 50mm again. All shot with my Canon 200D. #stilllife #stilllifephotography #photographicstilllife #fruit (at Whangaparaoa, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvLnuFyAdzl/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=n4dogt6hp140

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Some progress on the geometric mask, fit the lines painted. Still have to push the edges (should have done that first really) and then paint them too. I even made a special tool to paint the grooves! It's a bit like those draftsmans' pen things that are shaped kind of like tweezers, but made from some thin umbrella limb channel offcut I had, so it's not adjustable like the proper ones. Very satisfying though, making your own tools, and having them work really well. #maskmaking #mask #lesthermask #lestherwork #costumemaking (at Whangaparaoa, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/BucoehonOB3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1fvc0tqjg4zkc

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Working on some big, black, faux feathers! Black fabric, stiffened with silicone, and texture combed in before the silicone sets. The spines are made from umbrella arms. Scroll for before and after picture. #costumedesign #costumemaking #fauxfeathers #blackwings #costumetechniques (at Whangaparaoa, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtFOo4Ono4V/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1gr48slmwnnoa

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Just a quick look at some of my older masks, some of which I never posted! (Part 5 - Final)

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Just a quick look at some of my older masks, some of which I never posted! (Part 4)

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Just a quick look at some of my older masks, some of which I never posted! (Part 3)

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Just a quick look at some of my older masks, some of which I never posted! (Part 2)

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Just a quick look at some of my older masks, some of which I never posted! (Part 1)

I really must get back in the workshop, my stock is getting a bit low haha!

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"La Vie Sans Pain, N'est Pas La Vie!" (Life without bread, is not life!) I'm not thrilled with the sketch, but this is a tee-shirt idea I'm playing around with. I need to work on the cartoony bread and come up with a style I like... 🍞 P.S. I just realized the spelling of 'pain' ('bread' in French) and I'm vaguely amused by the suitable double meaning in this context haha! #teedesign #teeshirtdesign #appareldesign #bakerchic #cartoonbread #illustration (at Whangaparaoa, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsRm4ioH7n2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=pwbw6u5dr37g

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Finally finished one! My sister and I have been making these wooden sandpit diggers! We meant to get them done in time for Christmas, but they took much longer than expected haha! But maybe you have a little tyke with a birthday in the new year, or you might even be as unprepared for Christmas as we are! $150 each - Happy to deliver locally. Please send us a message if interested! #woodentoys #toydigger #sandpittoys #digger (at Whangaparaoa, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrpDVvFHqgR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1aqaczepd01c